@stevenbodzin @pvonhellermannn @DarkOptimism I am in zone 8b/9 east coast North America. We have unusual weather patterns. It can be in the 70’s (21C+) for a week in Dec/jan/Feb, then drop into the 40’s/30’s(night) (4C-) for another. It alternates dramatically like this throughout the winter. I’m cultivating seeds of local wild fruit/nut plants to grow bc I think our plants are a little smarter about when winter actually ends.
@jblue Thanks, fascinating! Do you know anything about the invasiveness of these plants, particularly the jaboticaba? Any toxicity to local birds etc?
@stevenbodzin jabo is not cold hardy so it will die if temps go below freezing. It’s compact/shrubby, can be grown/trained in a large pot to bring inside in winter. It’s not aggressive like bean trees and doesn’t form underground networks/colonies.
Birds and animals will go after the fruit. Red hybrids (& escarlate) have edible skin so are not toxic. Most jabos have inedible skin due to lot of tannins - they not only taste bad but prolonged regular consumption is carcinogenic.